Thursday, November 17, 2011

Pleasant events, or maybe not.

I have mentioned once or twice that I am taking a class on Thursdays which revolves around mentally healthy habits for adults. I missed last week, due to the cold (or whatever it was) from hell, and was reviewing last week's work before class today.

Last week covered the concept of a "pleasant events schedule." That is, rather than letting good things arise organically from your experiences and surroundings, you actively plan in a certain amount of pleasant events every week, with a minimum of one a day. Pleasant events ranged from "traveling abroad" to "recognizing you have done a good job" or "thinking how much more fortunate you are than others you may know."

Looking down the list, I noticed that "throttling people in your life who oh-so-richly deserve it"* is not on there. Pity.

A lot of other activities on the list have potentially significant downsides: flirting, eating, gambling, sex. Why not a little premeditated homicide?

No, I have to remember that throttling people is wrong. Oh, wait, no, that's judgmental. I am supposed to avoid being judgmental. I should instead say "throttling people is inconsistent with my core value which requires me to respect the sanctity of human life."

But sometimes it is also very tempting.

*No, there is no one right this minute who is annoying me that much, but I just recognize the general principle.

"Sometimes you gotta create what you want to be a part of." Dr. Geri Weitzman

"An idea is not responsible for the people who believe it." Don Marquis

"The infinite possibilities each day holds should stagger the mind. The sheer number of experiences I could have is uncountable, breathtaking, and I'm sitting here refreshing my inbox." xkcd (webcomic by Randall Monroe)

"A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" Robert Browning.

"The opposite of war isn't peace, it's creation." Jonathan Larson.

"If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution." Emma Goldman.

“No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett.

"I believe that the God who made (among other things) light, and space, and number, and time, and the spiral curve of Fibonacci numbers, must be acknowledged to understand more than I do about why there’s pain in the world." Teresa Neilsen Hayden

“No, it’s not fair. You’re in the wrong universe for fair.” John Scalzi.

"So keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin' ass and celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was." Molly Ivins